X* 


LIBRARY 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 


GIFT  OK 


Received  J&/VU 

Accession  No.  "YZO  o  3      '   ^ass  ^°' 


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\LSJ-.    I&AM.     ^ui<A   v/  <& 


<J  . 


ELECTRO-HORTICULTURE 


BY 
GEO.  S.  HULL,  M.D.,  Sc.D. 

PASADENA    GAL. 


TEbe  Knickerbocker  jprcss 
i?ork 


COPYRIGHT,  1898 

BY 
GEORGE  S.  HULL 


7*03-3 


PREFACE 

ELECTRICITY  is  analogous  to  heat  and  light, 
and,  like  them,  has  an  influence  upon  the 
growth  of  plants.  What  this  is,  it  is  the  purpose 
of  the  author  to  inquire  into  with  his  readers  by 
presenting  to  them  a  summary  of  what  has  been 
accomplished  in  the  comparatively  new  science  of 
electro-horticulture,  and  by  discussing  with  them 
the  rationale  of  the  action  of  electricity  upon 
vegetation. 

That  he  may  afford  assistance  to  some  who  are 
already  at  work,  and  possibly  influence  others  to 
investigate  into  this  fascinating  subject,  is  his  sole 
motive  in  offering  to  the  public  this  monograph. 

He  has  had  in  view  the  popular  rather  than  the 
scientific  aspect  of  the  subject,  and  hence  has 
limited  himself  to  what  he  felt  would  most  appeal 
to  the  average  reader. 

G.  S.  II. 

PASADENA,  CAL.,  October  i,  1898. 


CONTENTS 


I. — The  Dawn  of  Electro-horticulture.       The  Appli- 
cation of  Electricity  to  the  Stalks  of  Plants       .          I 

II. — Electricity  from  the  Atmosphere  Applied  to  the 
Roots  of  Plants  and  to  the  Soil  Surrounding 
them  ........  8 

IIT. — Electricity  from  Batteries  Applied  to  the  Roots 

of  Plants  and  to  the  Surrounding  Soil       .          .        14 

IV. — Effects  of  the  Electric  Light  upon  Vegetation    .       19 
V. — How  Does  Electricity  Act  upon  Vegetation  ?     .       24 

VI. — Some  Suggestions  and  a  Glimpse  of  an  Electric 

Farm  of  the  Future         .....       32 


ELECTRO-HORTICULTURE 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  DAWN  OF  ELECTRO-HORTICULTURE.  THE 
APPLICATION  OF  ELECTRICITY  TO  THE 
STALKS  OF  PLANTS 

THE  use  of  electricity  in  horticulture,  while 
seemingly  of  recent  years,  had  its  small  be- 
ginning long  before  the  invention  of  the  dynamo, 
and  even  antedated  several  years  Franklin's  im- 
portant discovery,  in  1752,  by  which  he  startled  the 
scientific  world  with  the  announcement  that  he  had 
drawn  the  "  electric  fluid  "  from  the  clouds  by 
means  of  a  kite,  and  had  proved  it  to  be  identical 
with  the  electricity  of  the  Leyden  jar.  As  early  as 
1746,  the  very  year  which  saw  the  invention  of  the 
famous  Leyden  jar,  Von  Maimbray,  of  Edinburgh, 
began  to  study  the  effects  of  electricity  upon  plant 
life,  his  first  experiment  being  with  two  young  myrtle 
trees.  He  simply  passed  the  current  down  through 
them  to  the  soil,  and  found  that  it  stimulated  their 
growth.  Soon  experimenters  upon  the  continent 
were  at  work  along  the  same  line,  and  their  results 


were  such  that  they  readily  agreed  with  him  that 
electricity  exerted  a  favorable  influence  upon  vege- 
tation. They,  like  Von  Maimbray,  passed  the 
electricity,  developed  mainly  by  friction,  through 
the  stalks  of  plants  to  the  soil.  The  machines  they 
used  to  develop  the  current  were  so  crude,  and 
their  experiments  conducted  upon  such  a  small 
scale,  that  but  little  advance  was  made  upon  the 
initial  experiments,  and  the  interest  accordingly 
waned. 

In  1783,  Abbot  Bertholon  became  interested  in 
the  subject,  and  his  investigations  soon  convinced 
him  that  electricity  was  decidedly  useful  in  the 
maturing  of  plants.  His  enthusiasm  reached  a 
high  pitch,  and  he  gave  vent  to  it  in  a  book,  Con- 
cerning Electricity  in  Plants.  He  devoted  the  larger 
part  of  it  to  reporting  the  results  of  his  experiments, 
and  the  remainder  to  the  description  of  the  appli- 
ances used  in  furnishing  electricity  to  the  plants. 

We  shall  briefly  describe  two  of  these  devices. 
One  consisted  of  an  insulated  rod,  supported  ver- 
tically, holding  up  some  points  in  the  air  and 
terminating  in  other  points  directly  over  the  plant; 
his  intention  being  to  draw  down  some  of  the  elec- 
tricity in  the  atmosphere  and  pass  it  through  the 
plant  into  the  ground.  The  other  was  more  in- 
genious and  complicated,  and  furnished  electricity 
on  a  much  larger  scale.  A  barrel  of  water  was 
placed  on  a  cart;  beside  it  stood  the  operator  on  an 
insulated  stool.  His  body  was  connected  by  means 
of  an  insulated  wire  with  the  positive  pole  of  a 
frictional-electric  machine  in  action.  As  he  dipped 


water  out  of  the  barrel  by  means  of  a  large  sprink- 
ling-can it  became  charged  with  electricity  from 
the  machine.  By  sprinkling  it  upon  the  plants 
while  the  cart  was  being  driven  among  them,  the 
current  was  delivered  to  them  by  the  water,  and 
passed  through  them  to  the  soil. 

These  currents  of  high  electromotive  force  (pres- 
sure), generated  by  the  frictional-electric  machines 
used  by  Bertholon,  could  readily  pass  through  the 
water l  to  the  plants,  and  through  them  to  the 
ground. 

While  Bertholon  was  observing  the  effects  of  de- 
vices which  gave  a  much  larger  supply  of  electricity 
to  plants  than  they  could  get  from  the  atmosphere, 
Gardini,  of  Turin,  was  pursuing  an  opposite  course 
by  watching  the  results  of  experiments  which  en- 
tirely removed  plants  from  the  influence  of  atmo- 

1  That  water  will  conduct  electricity  many  persons  have 
learned  to  their  surprise  when  they  have  attempted  to  remove 
a  coin  from  a  bowl  of  this  fluid  which  has  been  connected 
with  one  of  the  poles  of  an  induction  coil,  their  bodies  having 
been  connected  with  the  other  pole.  Firemen  have  also 
learned  that  it  is  not  safe  to  throw  a  stream  of  water  over  live 
electric  wires,  because  the  insulation  may  have  been  burned 
off,  or  removed  in  other  ways,  and  a  dangerous  and  perhaps 
fatal  current  may  escape  down  the  stream  of  water  to  their 
bodies.  That  fertile  genius,  Mr.  FMison,  not  long  ago  start- 
led us  by  suggesting  that  we  utilize  the  conducting  power  of 
water  in  modern  warfare.  He  spoke  of  rendering  a  fort  im- 
pregnable by  means  of  such  simple  machinery  as  a  powerful 
force-pump  to  propel  streams  of  water,  and  a  dynamo  to  fur- 
nish deadly  currents  of  electricity  to  them.  But  a  handful  of 
men  would  be  required  to  run  this  machinery  and  direct  the 
electrified  streams  of  water-  upon  the  advancing  columns  of 


spheric  electricity.  The  former  claimed  that  by 
increasing  the  supply  of  electricity  he  could 
markedly  hasten  the  maturing  of  plants,  and  the 
latter  that  by  depriving  plants  of  it,  he  could  very 
materially  retard  their  growth.  Gardini's  method 
was  to  protect  plants  from  the  influence  of  the  at- 
mospheric electricity  by  covering  them  with  cages 
of  wire  gauze,  and  then  to  compare  them  with 
others  exposed  to  the  action  of  the  electricity  in 
"the  atmosphere.  The  wire  gauze  which  surrounded 
the  plants  conducted  the  atmospheric  electricity 
away  from  them  to  the  ground,  and  the  result  was 
that  the  plants  drooped;  when  he  removed  the  wire 
cages  they  revived  again.  He  gave  his  conclusions 
as  follows: 

"  i.  Atmospheric  electricity  exerts  considerable 
influence  upon  the  production  of  vegetable  matter. 
All  things  equal,  plants  will  develop  better  every- 

the  enemy,  mowing  them  down  instantly.  If  it  pleased  these 
dispensers  of  death  within  the  fort,  they  could,  by  reducing 
the  strength  of  the  current,  merely  temporarily  paralyze  their 
foemen,  and  then  go  out  and  capture  them  ;  or,  if  they  were 
diabolical  enough  to  crave  some  sport  at  the  expense  of  their 
helpless  victims,  they,  by  still  further  reducing  the  strength  of 
the  current,  could  cause  them  to  throw  away  their  weapons 
and  engage  in  a  dance,  which,  while  amusing  to  the  merciless 
men  within  the  fort,  would  be  anything  but  pleasurable  to  the 
writhing  humanity  at  the  other  end  of  the  streams  of  electri- 
fied water.  Of  course,  the  enemy  might  come  clad  in  rubber 
suits,  or  otherwise  insulated ;  a'nd  then  it  would  be  a  question 
of  strength  of  current  on  the  one  hand,  and  perfection  of  in- 
sulation on  the  other.  It  is  hardly  likely  that  we  shall  have  a 
practical  test  of  this  matter  ;  it  belongs  more  to  the  realms  of 
electric  fancy. 


where  where  they  are  exposed  to  the  action  of 
atmospheric  electricity. 

"  2.  Plants  protected  from  the  action  of  the 
atmospheric  electricity  have,  in  the  same  space  of 
time,  given  from  fifty  to  seventy  per  cent,  of  fruit 
and  seed  less  than  the  plants  placed  in  ordinary 
conditions, — that  is  to  say,  to  which  electricity  has 
free  access. 

"  3.  The  proportion  of  albuminous  substances 
does  not  appear  to  depend  sensibly  upon  the  influ- 
ence of  electricity,  while  plants  that  are  protected 
from  it  appear  to  contain  less  water  and  more  min- 
eral substances. 

"  4.  Tall  plants  have  a  harmful  influence  upon 
the  development  of  plants  that  grow  at  their  base, 
not  only  by  depriving  them  of  light  and  heat,  but 
also  because  they  absorb  atmospheric  electricity  at 
their  expense." 

Leclerc,  who  was  experimenting  at  the  same 
time,  agreed  with  Gardini.  Celi  tested  the  matter 
in  another  way.  He  planted  three  grains  of  corn  in 
a  flower-pot,  and  placed  it  under  a  bell-glass.  In 
another  pot  of  the  same  size,  filled  with  the  same 
quality  of  earth,  he  planted  three  similar  grains, 
and  placed  the  pot  under  a  bell-glass  of  the  same 
size  as  the  former  one.  He  provided  so  that  each 
would  receive  the  same  amount  of  water  and  air. 
Thus  both  were  protected  from  the  influence  of 
atmospheric  electricity.  He  then  arranged  one 
of  the  bell-glasses  so  that  a  wire  passed  through  its 
top  and  ended  in  a  number  of  radiating  points  just 
within.  This  wire  was  connected  with  an  insulated 


metallic  vessel  near  the  bell-glass,  from  which  ves- 
sel issued  a  fine  stream  of  water.  The  flow  of 
water  electrified  the  vessel,  and  the  current  passed 
down  the  wire  and  was  dispersed  within  the  bell- 
glass.  Thus  one  flower-pot,  with  its  imbedded 
corn,  received  a  constant  supply  of  electricity, 
while  the  other  received  none.  It  was  soon  noticed 
that  the  plants  in  the  electrified  air  were  growing 
faster  than  the  others.  In  ten  days,  the  former 
were  ten  centimetres  high,  while  the  latter  were  but 
eight. 

These  experiments  were  largely  repeated  and 
abundantly  confirmed,  yet  there  were  experiment- 
ers who  reported  contradictory  results.  Among 
them  was  Ingenhouss,  a  high  authority  in  vegetable 
physiology  in  his  time  (1787).  His  denial  that 
electricity  exerted  a  beneficial  influence  upon 
vegetation  very  much  chilled  the  enthusiasm  of 
those  who  were  experimenting;  but  still  the  experi- 
ments were  not  discontinued. 

Especially  interested  and  active  became  Mr. 
Selim  Lemstrom,  of  University  of  Helsingfors,  who 
had  noticed  that  in  Lapland  and  in  Spitzbergen 
plants  grew  with  wonderful  rapidity  during  the 
short  polar  summer,  and  their  flowers  were  more 
brightly  colored,  and,  if  they  were  cereals,  yielded 
surprisingly  large  crops.  He  attributed  this  to  the 
fact  that  atmospheric  electricity  was  more  abundant 
in  the  polar  regions  than  elsewhere;  he  knew  that 
these  regions  are  the  peculiar  homes  of  the  aurora 
borealis,  a  generally  conceded  electric  phenom- 
enon. Lemstrom  planted  seeds  in  pots,  and  put 


7 


some  of  them  under  a  system  of  wires  with  points 
projecting  downward  so  as  to  deliver  the  electricity 
from  the  positive  pole  of  a  Holtz  machine  upon  the 
growing  plants;  the  others  were  not  exposed  to  the 
current.  He  found  in  six  weeks  (the  machine 
being  in  operation  five  hours  each  day)  that  the 
plants  electrically  treated  were  forty  per  cent,  in 
advance  of  the  others.  He  also  found  that  it  did 
not  matter  whether  the  electricity  was  passed  down 
through  the  plant  or  in  the  opposite  direction. 

In  1885,  experiments  were  conducted  on  a  larger 
scale  in  the  open  fields  in  the  domain  of  Niemis. 
A  system  of  insulated  wires  was  erected  over  part 
of  a  field  of  barley;  at  short  intervals  were  metallic 
points  which  could  deliver  the  electricity  down 
upon  the  grain.  This  system  was  connected  with 
the  positive  pole  of  a  four-disk  Holtz  machine,  the 
negative  pole  being  connected  with  a  zinc  plate 
buried  in  the  earth.  The  machine  was  run  eight 
hours  a  day.  The  result  was  that  the  crop  was  in- 
creased one  third  in  the  electrified  part  of  the  field. 
Larger  claims  were  made  in  the  following  year  by 
the  experimenters  at  Brodtorp,  who  used  the  cur- 
rent from  four  electric  machines. 

From  the  many  experiments  conducted  by  Lem- 
strom,  he  concluded  that  electricity  favorably 
affected  the  growth  of  wheat,  rye,  barley,  oats, 
beets,  parsnips,  potatoes,  radishes,  celery,  leeks, 
kidney-beans,  raspberries,  and  strawberries;  while 
carrots,  rutabagas,  turnips,  cabbages,  and  tobacco 
were  more  or  less  injured  by  the  electric  treatment. 

That  the  results  obtained  by  the  different  invest- 


8 


igators  were  not  always  harmonious  is  not  strange 
when  we  consider  that  the  experiments  were  per- 
formed at  various  points  on  the  earth's  surface,  and 
that  the  time  of  day  during  which  the  current  was 
applied  and  the  length  of  the  application  were  sub- 
ject to  wide  variations. 


CHAPTER  II 

ELECTRICITY  FROM  THE  ATMOSPHERE  AP~ 
PLIED  TO  THE  ROOTS  OF  PLANTS  AND  TO 
THE  SOIL  SURROUNDING  THEM 

IN  1891,  Paulin,  of  the  Agricultural  School  at 
Beauvais,  France,  began  a  series  of  experi- 
ments near  Montbrison,  with  the  expectation  of 
drawing  down  the  atmospheric  electricity  in  more 
abundant  quantities  than  had  been  done  by  pre- 
vious experimenters.  He  erected  what  he  called  a 
geomagnetifer.  It  was  merely  a  tall,  resinous  pole 
planted  in  the  earth,  and  carrying  to  its  top  a 
galvanized  iron  rod,  insulated  from  it  by  porcelain 
knobs,  and  terminating  in  five  pointed  branches. 
The  electricity  thus  collected  from  the  atmosphere 
was  carried  to  the  soil  and  distributed  by  means  of 
a  system  of  underground  wires  to  the  area  of  ground 
to  be  electrically  influenced.  His  first  experiment 
was  with  potatoes.  The  part  of  the  field  under 
electric  influence  responded  in  a  surprising  man- 
ner, as  is  evidenced  by  the  following  extract  from 
a  newspaper  report  at  the  time  :  '"  The  eye  is 
arrested  by  a  perceptible  irregularity  in  the  vegeta- 
tion of  the  field.  Within  a  circle  limited  exactly 
by  the  place  occupied  in  the  earth  by  the  conduct- 
ing wires  of  atmospheric  electricity,  the  potato 
9 


YE* 

0** 


IO 


plants  possess  a  vigor  double  that  of  the  plants 
occupying  the  rest  of  the  earth,  and  that,  too, 
without  a  gap,  without  a  feeble  point  in  this  group 
of  superb  stalks,  sharply  circumscribed  as  by  a  line 
drawn  by  a  compass." 

According  to  the  report  of  the  committee  dele- 
gated by  the  Montbrison  Society  of  Agriculture  to 
report  on  Paulin's  experiments,  a  geomagnetifer 
twenty-eight  feet  high,  made  its  influence  felt  over 
a  radius  of  sixty-five  feet,  and  the  yield  of  potatoes 
within  this  electrified  area  was  from  fifty  per  cent, 
to  seventy-five  per  cent,  greater  than  without  it. 
This  committee  was  quite  enthusiastic  over  the  re- 
sults of  Paulin's  experiments,  and  awarded  him  a 
special  medal.  He  next  experimented  with  his 
geomagnetifer  in  a  vineyard,  and  found  that  grapes 
were  much  advanced  in  their  growth,  and  that  they 
were  sweeter  (yielding  about  five  per  cent,  more 
sugar)  and  less  acid.  In  further  experiments  he 
found  that  spinach  and  celery  were  markedly  influ- 
enced, some  leaves  of  the  former  reaching  the  length 
of  one  and  one  fourth  feet,  and  some  stalks  of  the 
latter  three  feet.  Radishes  and  turnips  were  much 
improved  in  size  and  quality,  and  sugar-beets 
yielded  a  larger  percentage  of  their  saccharine 
compound.  It  was  also  noticed  that  potatoes  and 
sugar-beets,  electrically  cultivated,  were  singularly 
free  from  disease,  while  those  outside  of  the  influ- 
ence were  often  seriously  affected. 

Spechnew  modified  Paulin's  experiment  by  stick- 
ing a  number  of  poles  into  a  field,  each  pole  having 
a  point  at  its  apex,  and  all  being  connected  with  a 


II 


system  of  underground  conducting  wires,  so  as  to 
distribute  the  electricity  to  the  soil.  "  By  these 
means,"  he  says,  "  the  electricity  of  the  atmosphere 
is  rendered  denser  over  the  field,  and  the  plants 
develop  in  a  field  of  high  electric  tension."  After 
five  years  of  experimentation  he  was  most  favorably 
impressed  with  the  results.  He  tells  us  that  475 
pounds  of  rye  by  the  ordinary  method  of  cultiva- 
tion grew  2825  pounds  of  grain  and  6175  pounds  of 
straw;  while  by  the  electric  method  the  same  quan- 
tity of  seed  yielded  3625  pounds  of  grain  and  9900 
pounds  of  straw.  Barley  and  wheat  responded  in 
a  similar  manner,  while  oats  yielded  even  larger 
returns. 

This  method  of  applying  electricity  to  vegetation 
is  a  tempting  one  to  pursue  on  account  of  the 
abundance  of  atmospheric  electricity  at  one's 
command. 

In  speculating  on  cosmical  electricity,  Prof.  Elihu 
Thomson  says:  "  The  earth  may  possess  the  char- 
acter of  a  huge  conductor,  the  outer  coating  being 
the  rarefied  conducting  air,  the  inner  coating  the 
ground  and  water  surface,  and  the  dielectric  the 
dense  air  between."  The  electric  potential  on 
the  top  of  the  Eiffel  Tower  (984  feet  high),  he  says, 
may  be  as  great  as  10,000  volts;  and  if  the  increase 
be  1000  volts  for  every  100  feet,  on  the  average,  it 
would  rise  to  1,000,000  volts  at  an  altitude  of 
twenty  miles.  So,  we  may  liken  the  earth  to  a 
huge  Leyden  jar,  the  dense  air  acting  like  the  non- 
conducting glass  between  the  inner  and  outer 
metallic  coatings  of  the  jar.  Sometimes  in  charg- 


12 


ing  a  Ley'den  jar  the  electricity  will  break  through 
the  glass  (especially  is  it  apt  to  do  so  if  the  glass 
contains  lead),  and  ruin  the  jar  thereafter  for  ex- 
perimental purposes.  Likewise,  sometimes,  elec- 
tricity, under  such  high  potentials,  in  the  upper, 
rare  atmosphere  (in  storm-clouds,  for  instance),  will 
break  through  the  intervening  denser  air  and  dis- 
charge itself  into  the  ground  or  water — this  we  call 
a  stroke  of  lightning. 

Franklin  raised  his  kite  into  such  charged  clouds, 
and  their  electricity  came  down  the  string  and  filled 
his  Leyden  jar,  proving  the  identity  of  the  elec- 
tricity of  the  atmosphere  with  that  of  the  plate 
machines  ordinarily  used  to  charge  Leyden  jars. 

What  if  Paulin's  geomagnetifers  could  be  made 
to  penetrate  miles  up  into  this  reservoir  of  elec- 
tricity and  thus  furnish  an  easy  path  for  it  to  the 
earth  ?  It  is  interesting  to  speculate  upon  the  pos- 
sibility of  our  being  able  to  tap  this  great  store- 
house of  stimulus  to  vegetation — possibly  even  to 
human  development — at  will. 

If  we  ask  whence  the  outer,  rare  layers  of  our 
atmosphere  get  their  electricity,  we  may  come 
nearest  a  correct  answer  by  saying  from  the  sun, 
that  great  source  of  so  many  forms  of  energy.  We 
know  that  displays  of  the  aurora  borealis,  and  also 
electric  storms,  which  are  so  unwelcome  to  tele- 
graphers, are  most  frequent  during  the  prevalence 
of  sun-spots,  and  we  know  that  these  spots  are  due 
to  some  great  disturbance  upon  the  sun.  Whether 
the  electricity  thus  generated  upon  the  sun  is  carried 
to'  our  upper  atmosphere  by  minute  particles  thrown 


out  by  these  eruptions,  as  is  claimed  by  some,  or 
whether  we  get  it  by  induction  across  space,  as  is 
thought  by  others,  we  will  not  attempt  to  determine. 
We  do  know,  however,  that  the  electric  potential 
does  increase  as  we  go  up  from  the  earth's  surface. 
According  to  Mr.  McAddie,  it  can  be  measured 
very  accurately  by  means  of  his  kite-experiment, 
which  bears  some  resemblance  to  Franklin's  historic 
one  of  so  many  years  previous;  there  is,  however, 
a  very  marked  difference  between  the  conditions 
which  surrounded  these  two  experimenters  when 
they  sailed  their  kites  into  the  skies.  Franklin 
courted  the  anger  of  the  thunder-cloud  and  flew  his 
kite,  with  its  pointed  wire,  into  the  face  of  death — 
so  far  as  he  knew.  His  theory  of  the  identity  of 
electricity  and  lightning  had  not  yet  been  proved 
— possibly  it  would  be  proved  at  the  expense  of  its 
originator's  life;  he  knew  that  the  electricity  of  the 
Leyden  jar  was  deadly  to  small  animals,  indeed  his 
own  life  had  been  shocked  into  insensibility  by  it. 

The  ingenious  Mr.  McAddie  flew  his  kite  into 
the  blue  of  a  cloudless  sky,  and  took  note  of  the 
sparks  discharged  from  the  lower  end  of  the  in- 
sulated wire  connected  with  it.  By  connecting  an 
electrometer  with  the  wire,  he  could  usually  tell 
whether  the  kite  was  rising  or  falling  by  reading 
the  larger  or  smaller  deflections  of  the  needle. 

It  may  be  of  profit  to  consider,  even  if  very 
briefly,  in  closing  this  chapter,  the  effects  of  atmos- 
pheric electricity  upon  man — whether  or  not  it 
assists  in  his  physical  development  and  well-being. 
Jean  Paul  Richter  speaks  of  the  value  of  the 


thunderstorm-bath,  reminding  us  how  "  fresh, 
cheerful,  and  elastic  "  we  feel  after  a  "  warm  or 
tepid  rain  has  penetrated  to  the  skin,"  and  how, 
after  being  exposed  to  a  thunderstorm  and  becom- 
ing dry  we  are  invigorated  just  as  the  flowers  are 
when  they  stand  erect  and  look  refreshed  after  the 
passage  of  a  storm.  He  says  :  "  Why  will  they  not 
receive  this  united  fire  and  water  baptism  from 
above,  and  suffer  themselves  to  be  raised  and 
healed  by  the  wonder-working  arm  in  the  thunder- 
cloud ? ' '  He  is  practical  when  he  advises  a  special 
suit  of  clothes  for  the  purpose,  and  the  forming  of 
rain-parties  when  there  is  promise  of  wet  weather 
in  the  warmer  seasons.  If  we  incline  to  Richter's 
belief,  may  we  not  reason  that  any  form  of  dress 
which  insulates  us  in  a  high  degree  from  the  earth, 
and  thus  prevents  the  passage  of  the  atmospheric 
electricity  through  our  bodies,  is  detrimental  to 
us? 

This  may  furnish  one  of  the  reasons  why  one 
feels  best  when  he  is  able  to  run  barefooted;  also 
it  may  explain  why  in  some  parts  of  Germany  it  is 
claimed  that  many  diseases  maybe  cured  by  simply 
connecting  one's  self  with  an  iron  rod  driven  into 
the  earth.  Possibly  we  may  refer  any  good  which 
may  be  derived  from  the  numerous  patent  devices 
for  "  electrolibrating,"  "  polarizing,"  etc.,  to  the 
fact  that  they  are  merely  contrivances  for  electric- 
ally connecting  one  with  the  earth,  and  have 
nothing  inherent  in  themselves  as  a  means  of  elec- 
trically influencing  the  body.  If  there,  perchance, 
be  any  good  in  these  high-priced  and  much-adver- 


tised  devices,  the  author  would  recommend  as 
being  just  as  efficacious  (very  possibly  much  more 
so,  and  certainly  much  cheaper),  the  connecting 
of  one's  ankles  by  means  of  an  insulated  wire  with 
gas  or  water  mains,  which  have  such  good  connec- 
tion with  the  earth. 

If,  indeed,  atmospheric  electricity  benefits  plants, 
as  it  certainly  does,  may  it  not  be  of  use  also  to  the 
collection  of  living  cells  which  go  to  make  man's 
body  ?  Possibly  we  think  too  lightly  of  this. 


CHAPTER  III 

ELECTRICITY  FROM  BATTERIES  APPLIED  TO 
THE  ROOTS  OF  PLANTS  AND  TO  THE  SUR- 
ROUNDING SOIL 

IN  the  previous  chapters  we  dealt  with  frictional 
or  static  electricity,  that  developed  by  plate- 
electric  machines  or  drawn  from  the  upper  atmos- 
phere, and  which  possesses  high  electromotive 
force  but  is  very  deficient  in  quantity — a  little 
stream,  as  it  were,  moving  under  great  pressure. 
This,  by  reason  of  its  great  electromotive  force, 
can  penetrate  the  badly  conducting  air  to  plants 
and  readily  pass  through  them  to  the  soil.  Now 
we  shall  consider  the  uses  of  galvanic  electricity, 
or  that  from  batteries,  and  which,  having  low  elec- 
tromotive force,  though  capable  of  being  delivered 
in  large  quantities,  cannot  be  applied  advantage- 
ously to  the  stalks  of  plants,  but  can  be  furnished 
readily  to  the  soil  surrounding  their  roots. 

A  simple  form  of  experimentation,  which  first 
interested  the  writer  and  which  yielded  in  the  main 
such  favorable  results  that  he  was  led  to  continue 
his  investigations,  was  as  follows: 

Two  boxes  of  like  size  were  filled  with  the  same 
kind  of  soil,  and  in  each  was  planted  the  same  num- 
ber of  hemp  seeds  at  the  same  depth.  They  were 
exposed  to  similar  conditions  of  heat,  light,  and 
16 


moisture.  In  the  end  of  one  of  the  boxes  was  in- 
serted a  thin  piece  of  zinc,  the  height  and  breadth 
of  the  box,  and  in  the  other  end  a  piece  of  copper 
of  similar  size.  Both  were  pressed  down  almost  to 
the  bottom  of  the  box,  and  were  connected  above 
ground  by  a  copper  wire  soldered  to  their  projec- 
tions. Thus  arranged  the  box  was  an  earth-battery, 
the  like  of  which  has  been  used  for  running  clocks 
and  other  machinery  requiring  but  little  current, 
and  also  by  previous  experimenters  in  electro- 
horticulture.  The  results  were  always  in  favor  of 
the  seeds  planted  in  the  earth-battery,  the  plants 
resulting  from  them  being  from  twenty  per  cent, 
to  forty  per  cent,  in  advance  of  those  in  the  box 
without  the  zinc  and  copper. 

Briefly,  what  goes  on  in  the  earth-battery  is  as 
follows  :  some  compounds  in  the  moist,  soil  act 
chemically  upon  the  zinc  (positive  element),  one  of 
the  results  of  which  is  that  a  current  of  electricity 
is  generated;  this  passes  through  the  soil  to  the 
copper  (negative  element),  up  the  copper  to  the 
wire  above  the  soil  and  through  it  to  the  zinc, 
making  a  circuit.  By  inserting  a  sensitive  galvano- 
meter into  this  wire  a  current  can  be  proved  to  be 
flowing  by  the  deflection  of  the  needle.  It  is  this 
continuous  current  going  through  the  soil  which 
acts  upon  some  of  the  compounds  in  it,  and  also 
upon  the  roots  of  the  plants,  giving  us  the  good 
results  we  generally  obtain.  Ordinary  galvanic 
cells,  such  as  the  "  gravity,"  can  be  used  to  fur- 
nish the  current;  all  that  is  needed  is  to  attach  the 
wire  from  the  positive  electrode  of  the  battery  to 


i8 


a  metallic  plate  driven  into  the  earth,  and  the  wire 
from  the  negative  to  a  similar  plate  at  some  dis- 
tance from  the  other  one.  More  current  is  fur- 
nished, but  the  expense  is  much  greater. 

The  earth-battery  in  the  hands  of  Spechnew,  in 
the  botanical  gardens  at  Kew  (London),  achieved 
some  surprising  results.  He  sank  plates  of  zinc 
and  copper,  about  two  feet  square  and  connected 
by  copper  wires,  into  beds  in  which  he  planted 
various  cereals  and  vegetables.  He  reported  that 
in  some  experiments  with  cereals  in  these  electrified 
beds  the  stalks  were  four  times  as  large  and  the 
yield  of  grain  one  and  one  half  times  as  great  as  in 
the  beds  not  subjected  to  the  electric  treatment. 
He  produced  in  this  electrified  soil  a  radish  seven- 
teen inches  long  and  five  inches  in  diameter,  and 
a  carrot  nearly  eleven  inches  in  diameter  and  weigh- 
ing five  pounds.  Both  were  juicy  and  fine-flavored. 
Fischer,  of  Waldstein,  experimented  largely  with 
garden  plants,  placing  his  copper  and  zinc  plates, 
each  sixty-five  by  forty  centimetres,  in  the  soil 
thirty  metres  apart.  In  many  plants  he  secured  an 
increase  of  from  twofold  to  fourfold.  He  claimed 
that  the  plants  matured  more  quickly,  and  agreed 
with  Spechnew  that  they  were  always  free  from 
disease,  though  often  the  surrounding  plants  were 
badly  affected  with  fungoid  growths. 

Professor  Warner,  of  the  Agricultural  College  of 
Massachusetts,  has  verified  at  the  Hatch  Experi- 
ment Station  many  of  the  results  of  the  European 
experimenters,  and  has  given  us  some  very  interest- 
ing ones  of  his  own.  In  experimenting  with  let- 


tuce,  he  prepared  two  plots  in  a  greenhouse  so  that 
they  would  be  subject  to  like  conditions  and  influ- 
ences. In  the  one  he  buried,  at  a  little  depth  in 
the  soil,  a  system  of  copper  wires  consisting  of 
series  of  from  four  to  nine  strands  one  half  inch 
apart.  He  connected  the  wires  with  a  battery  of 
two  cells,  which  sent  a  continuous  current  of  elec- 
tricity through  them.  These  plots  were  in  a  part 
of  the  greenhouse  which  had  been  used  for  the 
raising  of  lettuce,  and  in  which  great  trouble  had 
been  experienced  from  mildew.  One  of  his  ob- 
jects was  to  see  if  the  electric  treatment  would 
have  any  effect  upon  the  mildew.  Equal  numbers 
of  healthy  lettuce  plants,  of  the  head  variety,  were 
set  in  the  plots;  those  in  the  plot  with  the  electric 
apparatus  were  planted  over  the  wires  so  that  their 
roots  could  come  in  contact  with  them.  He  re- 
ported that  five  plants  out  of  fifteen  in  the  electric 
plot  were  killed  by  the  mildew,  the  other  ten  being 
"  well  developed  and  the  heads  large."  In  the 
corresponding  unelectrified  plot  "  only  three  plants 
had  partially  developed,  and  two  of  them  were 
nearly  destroyed  by  the  mildew — only  one  was  free 
from  disease."  It  was  noticed  that  when  the  cur- 
rent became  weak,  or  was  interrupted,  the  heads 
began  to  feel  the  destructive  influence  of  the  mil- 
dew; also  that  the  largest  heads  were  over  the 
greatest  number  of  wires  and  nearest  where  the 
wires  were  attached  to  the  battery.  A  strange 
sight  presented  itself  on  examining  the  roots:  it 
was  found  that  they  had  "  grown  about  the  wires 
as  if  there  they  had  found  the  greatest  amount  of 


2O 


nourishment."  Professor  Warner  sums  up  by  say- 
ing, "  everything  considered,  the  results  were  in 
favor  of  electricity.  Those  plants  subjected  to  the 
greatest  electrical  influence  were  hardier,  healthier, 
larger,  and  had  a  better  color,  and  were  much  less 
affected  by  mildew  than  others."  In  later  experi- 
ments he  found  that  parsnips,  salsify,  radishes,  and 
peas  thrived  especially  well  under  the  electric 
treatment,  while  turnips  and  beets  responded  to  a 
less  degree. 

Spechnew,  having  obtained  such  excellent  re- 
sults from  the  use  of  earth-batteries,  was  led  to 
perform  the  experiment  of  electrifying  seeds  before 
planting  them,  to  see  if  the  current  would  have  any 
effect  to  make  them  develop  sooner.  He  put  some 
seeds  into  water  until  they  swelled,  and  then  trans- 
ferred them  to  a  glass  cylinder,  pressing  copper 
discs  against  them  at  both  ends.  The  disks  were 
connected  with  the  poles  of  an  induction  coil,  and 
the  faradic  current  applied  to  them  for  a  minute 
or  two.  Immediately  afterwards  they  were  planted. 
Peas,  beans,  barley,  and  sunflowers  developed  in 
about  half  the  time  required  for  those  not  so  treated, 
and  the  resulting  plants  were  healthier  looking, 
with  larger  leaves  and  brighter  colors;  the  yield, 
however,  was  not  increased. 

The  results  reported  by  other  experimenters  cor- 
respond so  closely  with  those  detailed  in  this  chap- 
ter that  we  need  not  give  space  to  them. 

The  small  expenditure  connected  with  this  line 
of  experimentation  in  electro-horticulture  should 
make  it  popular. 


CHAPTER  IV 

EFFECTS  OF  THE  ELECTRIC  LIGHT  UPON 
VEGETATION 

IT  is  well  known  that  if  a  plant  be  kept  in  a  dark 
place  it  will  lose  its  green  color  and  pine  away. 
Experimenting  with  plants  deprived  of  sunlight, 
Professor  C.  W.  Siemens  found  that  if  he  substi- 
tuted the  light  furnished  by  electricity,  the  plants 
would  keep  in  a  large  measure  their  green  color 
and  grow  almost  as  vigorously  as  with  the  sun 
shining  upon  them. 

Recently  a  gardener,  without  any  scientific  abil- 
ity, and  without  even  the  intention  of  experiment- 
ing, arrived  at  a  similar  conclusion.  He  was 
extremely  puzzled  one  day  to  find  that  some 
lettuce  plants  at  one  end  of  his  greenhouse  were 
far  in  advance  of  those  of  the  same  age  and  variety 
at  the  other  end.  He  was  finally  led  to  conclude 
that  an  arc-electric  lamp,  which  had  been  burning 
every  night  at  the  prolific  end  of  the  lettuce  bed, 
was  the  cause  of  his  good  fortune;  and  further  ex- 
perimentation proved  his  conclusion  to  be  correct. 

The  arc-electric  lamp  furnishes  a  light  very 
similar  to  sunlight,  being,  however,  somewhat 
richer  in  the  rays  beyond  the  violet  and  slightly 
21 


22 


deficient  in  the  orange  rays.  The  use  of  an  orange- 
colored  globe  makes  it  more  nearly  like  sunlight, 
and  favors  its  action  upon  vegetation.  The  naked 
arc-light,  if  too  near  some  plants,  exerts  a  detri- 
mental action  upon  them,  and  one  must  carefully 
study  the  susceptibility  of  the  individual  plant  in 
order  to  regulate  the  distance  between  it  and  the 
light.  The  length  of  time  the  lamp  is  kept  burn- 
ing and  the  color  of  the  shade  through  which  the 
light  is  permitted  to  pass  are  also  matters  of  im- 
portance. 

The  value  of  interposing  glass  between  the  light 
and  the  plants  has  been  demonstrated  frequently: 
for  instance,  Dr.  Bailey,  of  Cornell,  whose  work  in 
electro-horticulture  has  been  of  the  highest  order, 
found  that  radishes  under  the  naked  light  lost  from 
forty-five  per  cent,  to  sixty-five  per  cent. ;  under  a 
light  covered  by  an  opal  globe  the  loss  was  but 
slight,  while  when  the  light  was  strained  through 
the  opal  globe  and  the  glass  roof  of  the  greenhouse 
there  was  an  increase  in  both  tubers  and  tops.  He 
obtained  similar  results  with  beets  and  spinach. 
Cauliflowers  were  so  influenced  by  the  light  as  to 
grow  tall  and  extend  their  leaves  in  a  vertical 
direction,  but  they  did  not  head  so  well  as  those 
grown  without  the  light.  Tulips  and  petunias 
grew  taller  and  more  slender,  had  richer  hues,  and 
bloomed  earlier  and  more  freely.  Lettuce  was 
from  ten  to  twelve  days  earlier,  and  felt  the  influ- 
ence of  the  light  all  over  the  greenhouse,  which 
extended  forty  feet  from  the  lamp.  Another  ex- 
perimenter tells  us  that  a  2Ooo-candle-power  arc- 


lamp  will  markedly  influence  a  bed  of  lettuce  sixty 
feet  square. 

Siemens  found  that  the  electric  light  was  effica- 
cious in  producing  chlorophyll  in  the  leaves  of 
plants;  that  it  promoted  the  growth  of  the  whole 
plant  ;  and  also  hastened  the  development  of 
flowers  and  fruit,  giving  to  the  former  more  intense 
coloring,  and  to  the  latter  finer  flavor.  In  straw- 
berries the  rich  red  color  and  fine  flavor  were 
especially  noticeable,  and  the  berries  were  brought 
to  ripeness  two  weeks  before  the  usual  time.  Mel- 
ons, also,  were  quite  responsive  to  the  light,  and 
were  much  improved  in  aroma. 

In  experimenting  with  the  electric  light  one  will 
find  it  very  interesting  to  study  its  effects  upon 
plants  at  different  distances,  as  well  as  the  effects 
of  different  transparent  substances  placed  between 
it  and  the  plants.  Some  plants  are  apparently 
scorched  by  the  light,  even  if  not  near  enough  to 
feel  the  effects  of  its  heat.  The  ultra-violet  rays, 
which  seem  to  cause  this,  are  largely  absorbed  by 
plain  glass.  When  a  part  of  a  plant  is  shielded 
from  the  light  by  a  piece  of  ordinary  glass  one 
may  sometimes  see  a  distinct  line  of  demarkation 
between  the  part  so  protected  and  that  exposed  to 
the  glare  of  the  light;  even  a  single  leaf  may  be 
partly  scorched  and  partly  of  an  intenser  green  as 
a  result  of  its  position  in  this  respect. 

But  one  must  find  the  length  of  time  each  plant 
prefers  the  light  to  profit  most  by  its  influence,  in 
addition  to  ascertaining  its  preference  for  intensity 
and  for  the  color  of  the  glass  surrounding  it. 


Plants  seem  to  have  an  individuality,  and  often 
show  a  decided  liking  for  certain  regulations  in  the 
use  of  the  light  in  order  to  do  their  best  when  sub- 
jected to  its  influence. 

One  would  think  that  plants  need  the  darkness 
for  their  well-being,  just  as  animals  require  the 
night  for  sleep  and  refreshment;  but  this  has  been 
declared  by  a  prominent  investigator  not  to  be  the 
case,  or  at  least  but  to  a  very  limited  extent. 
Under  the  stimulus  of  the  electric  light  they  keep 
on  growing  at  night  almost  as  thriftily  as  in  the  day- 
light. What  to  us  would  be  dissipation  and  end  in 
disease,  seems  to  them  to  be  profitable  pleasure,  if 
the  light  is  properly  regulated.  Mr.  B.  F.  Thwaite 
tells  us  that  the  leaves  of  that  beautiful  plant,  the 
acacia  cophanta,  which  close  at  night,  open  almost 
magically  when  removed  from  the  darkness  into  the 
brilliant  beams  of  the  arc-lamp;  the  leaves  nearest 
the  root  being  the  first  to  be  influenced. 

We  have  been  alluding  to  the  effects  of  the 
steadily  shining  arc-light  upon  vegetation;  but  if 
it  is  flashed  at  short  intervals  upon  plants  it  seems  to 
have  increased  power,  at  least  it  will  draw  the  plants 
more  rapidly  and  strongly  toward  itself.  They 
seem  to  be  whipped  up,  as  it  were,  by  the  violent 
alternations  of  intense  light  and  darkness.  Helio- 
tropism  is  the  name  given  to  this  effect;  it  deserves 
a  fuller  investigation. 

It  is  not  unlikely  that  in  future  experiments, 
devices  will  be  used  to  graphically  record  the 
progress  of  the  growth  of  plants.  By  using  the 
method  of  M.  Mach,  one  may  see  plants  grow,  and 


2* 

be  able  to  follow  them  in  some  of  their  trans- 
formations. 

His  process  consists,  first,  in  photographing 
growing  plants  at  suitable  intervals,  and,  secondly, 
by  means  of  a  somewhat  complicated  apparatus,  in 
passing  rapidly  before  the  eye  the  photographs  of 
the  plants  in  their  various  stages  of  growth.  Thus, 
in  a  space  counted  by  seconds,  we  may  have  passed 
before  our  wondering  eyes  the  birth,  developing, 
flowering,  fruiting,  and  death  of  a  plant.  By  re- 
versing the  order  of  the  photographs  we  are  amazed 
to  see  the  fruit  evanesce  into  the  flower,  the  flower 
contract  into  the  bud,  the  bud  absorb  into  the  stem, 
and  finally  the  stem  disappear  into  the  ground. 

By  attaching  a  piece  of  fine  platinum  wire  to  a 
growing  plant,  and  fastening  a  small  piece  of  crayon 
to  the  other  end  of  the  wire,  it  is  said  that  we  may 
have  recorded  on  a  rotating  drum,  covered  with 
white  paper,  tracings  showing  its  growth.  If  we 
cover  the  drum  with  narrow  strips  of  platinum  foil, 
and  connect  them  with  one  pole  of  a  galvanic  bat- 
tery, and  the  wire  attached  to  the  plant  with  the 
other,  and  then  place  an  electric  bell  in  the  circuit, 
we  will  hear,  as  the  drum  rotates,  the  ringing  of  the 
bell  when  the  wire  presses  upon  the  foil,  and  have 
silence  when  the  wire  presses  upon  the  spaces  be- 
tween the  strips  of  foil.  As  plants  are  said  to  grow 
most  rapidly  between  the  hours  of  four  and  six  in  the 
morning,  if  we  make  the  strips  sufficiently  narrow, 
or  have  a  rapidly  growing  plant,  we  will  have  the 
bell  rung  quite  frequently  at  our  waking  hour. 


CHAPTER  V 

HOW  DOES  ELECTRICITY  ACT  UPON  VEGE- 
TATION? 

BEFORE  speculating  concerning  the  rationale 
of  the  action  of  electricity  upon  the  growth 
of  plants,  it  may  be  helpful  to  review,  even  very 
briefly,  the  manner  in  which  plants  get  their  nutri- 
tion from  the  air  and  soil. 

The  atmosphere  is  a  mixture  of  one  fifth  oxygen 
and  four  fifths  nitrogen,  with  varying  percentages 
of  carbon  dioxid  and  vapor  of  water,  besides 
minute  quantities  of  a  few  other  compounds.  The 
leaves  of  plants  have  the  power  of  breaking  up  the 
carbon  dioxid  (CO2)  and  fixing  its  carbon,  at 
the  same  time  setting  free  its  oxygen.  This  disin- 
tegrating action  upon  the  carbon  dioxid  in  wood- 
lands is  performed  on  such  a  large  scale  that  suffi- 
cient oxygen  is  liberated  to  produce  the  exhilirating 
feeling  one  often  experiences  during  an  outing  in 
the  woods.  This  appropriation  of  carbon  from 
carbon  dioxid  goes  on  when  two  conditions  co- 
exist :  sunlight  and  the  presence  of  chlorophyll  in 
the  leaves.  To  properly  appreciate  the  value  of 
sunlight  to  vegetation  one  must  realize  that  it  not 
only  enables  the  chlorophyll  to  decompose  carbon 
26 


dioxid,  but  also  that  it  is  the  stimulus  which  em- 
powers vegetation  to  make  chlorophyll,  the  con- 
stituent to  which  plants  owe  their  various  hues  of 
green.  It  is  well  known  that  a  period  of  rainy 
weather,  with  the  absence  of  sunlight,  diminishes 
very  much  the  quantity  of  chlorophyll  in  plants; 
also  that  in  dark  cellars  they  lose  it  entirely,  and, 
as  a  consequence,  their  lives,  though  an  abundance 
of  carbon  dioxid  be  present. 

From  the  soil  plants  get  most  of  their  water,  and 
nearly  all  of  their  nitrogen  (so  very  important  to 
their  well-being),  besides  the  various  salts  of  pot- 
ash, lime,  etc.,  which  they  require.  Most  of  these 
substances  exist  in  the  soil  in  forms  which  can  be 
absorbed  readily  by  the  roots;  this  is  not  the  case, 
however,  with  nitrogen,  so  we  offer  a  few  words 
concerning  it. 

Nitrogen  is  an  inert  gas,  colorless,  odorless,  and 
tasteless;  it  will  neither  burn  nor  support  combus- 
tion, and  yet  it  is  indispensable  to  life — not  only  in 
plants  but  in  human  beings.  Although  it  is  so 
abundant  in  the  air  (simply  mixed  with  oxygen), 
neither  plants  nor  human  beings  are  able  to  appro- 
priate it  directly  from  the  atmosphere.  It  seems  nec- 
essary that  it  first  should  be  made  into  compounds 
before  plants  can  utilize  it.  These  compounds 
are  generally  formed  by  oxygen  and  hydrogen  unit- 
ing with  it  under  certain  conditions:  nitrous  acid 
(HNO2)  and  nitric  acid  (HNO3)  are  examples. 
Usually  compounds  of  nitrogen  are  produced  by 
the  decomposition  of  organic  matter  by  ferments; 
thus  prepared  they  are  taken  up  readily  by  plants 


28 


and  made  a  part  of  them.  However,  the  roots  of 
some  plants,  under  rare  conditions,  seem  able  to 
appropriate  directly  the  nitrogen  brought  to  them 
in  the  air  which  has  been  absorbed  by  rain-water. 
Legumenous  plants  are  fortunate  in  this  respect; 
an  example  will  be  given  later. 

Concerning  the  manner  in  which  the  electric 
light  helps  plants  to  grow,  experimenters  have 
given  us  some  valuable  information;  but  in  rela- 
tion to  the  action  of  the  current  itself  upon  vegeta- 
tion much  needs  to  be  learned — and  here  is  an 
inviting  field  for  the  microscopist  as  well  as  for 
the  chemist. 

The  light  furnished  by  electricity  acts  upon 
plants  in  a  manner  very  similar  to  sunlight.  It 
stimulates  the  formation  of  chlorophyll  and  assists 
in  the  decomposition  of  carbon  dioxid,  upon  which 
plants  feed  so  largely.  That  it  helps  in  the  forma- 
tion of  starch  in  the  leaves  can  be  proved  in  a  very 
interesting  manner.  Keep  a  plant  in  darkness  for 
several  days  so  that  the  starch  may  disappear  from 
its  leaves.  Then  cover  one  of  its  leaves  with  a 
piece  of  tinfoil,  and  cut  a  letter  or  figure  through 
the  foil  without  injuring  the  leaf.  Expose  the  leaf 
to  the  electric  light,  which  will  stimulate  the  pro- 
duction of  starch  in  the  part  of  the  leaf  which  it 
reaches  through  the  perforations  in  the  tinfoil. 
After  a  couple  of  days  pluck  the  leaf  and  at  once 
put  it  into  boiling  water  (to  render  the  starch  solu- 
ble), and  then  into  alcohol  (to  dissolve  out  the 
chlorophyll).  The  leaf  will  now  be  colorless,  but 
will  contain  dissolved  starch  in  the  parts  which 


were  exposed  to  the  electric  light.  To  render  this 
visible,  immerse  the  leaf  in  a  weak  solution  of 
iodin,  and  the  letter  or  figure  will  stand  out  in  a 
blue  color. 

In  considering  the  action  of  atmospheric  elec- 
tricity upon  vegetation,  we  have  to  deal  with  a 
stimulus  which  exists  in  abundance.  Plants  grow 
most  vigorously  where  it  is  most  abundant,  and 
with  greatest  rapidity  in  the  early  morning  when 
the  dew  is  more  plentifully  upon  them,  making 
them  better  conductors.  Its  most  important  action 
upon  the  stalks  of  plants  is  that  of  increasing  their 
circulation  of  sap. 

Discharges  of  electricity  in  the  air,  especially 
during  thunder-storms,  cause  some  union  between 
the  oxygen  and  nitrogen  in  the  vicinity  of  the  dis- 
charges, forming  oxides  of  nitrogen,  which,  being 
soluble  in  water,  are  carried  to  the  roots  of  plants 
and  absorbed  by  them  directly. 

Electricity  passed  through  the  soil  by  earth-bat- 
teries, the  geomagnetifer,  or  other  means,  has  some 
action  upon  its  chemical  constituents.  We  are 
familiar  with  the  effects  of  a  current  of  electricity 
upon  water  (OH2)  when  the  electrodes  of  a  battery 
are  placed  in  it:  from  each  molecule  of  water  two 
atoms  of  hydrogen  go  to  the  negative  electrode 
and  one  atom  of  oxygen  to  the  positive.  Since  the 
time  when  Davy  decomposed  the  alkalies,  soda  and 
potash,  by  means  of  electricity,  nearly  every  com- 
pound has  yielded  to  this  mysterious  power,  which, 
as  it  were,  shakes  their  molecules  until  the  atoms 
composing  them  fly  apart.  In  like  manner  cur- 


rents  of  electricity  may  break  up  the  more  complex 
compounds  in  the  soil  into  simpler  ones,  upon 
which  the  roots  of  plants  can  feed. 

Spechnew  found  that  one  hundred  pounds  of 
earth,  subjected  to  the  electric  current  for  a  certain 
length  of  time,  contained  one  ounce  of  soluble 
material,  while  a  similar  quantity  of  the  same  kind 
of  earth  not  so  treated  contained  but  half  an  ounce. 

Some  observers  believe  that  electricity  decom- 
poses the  constituents  of  the  soil  much  as  quick- 
lime does,  and  it  is  largely  on  this  account  that 
plants  are  more  richly  fed  in  electrified  earth. 
Others  think  that,  in  some  manner,  under  the  elec- 
tric influence,  nitrogen  from  the  air  combines  with 
some  other  substances  in  the  soil,  making  com- 
pounds which  are  readily  absorbed  by  roots  of 
plants.  A  recent  experimenter  claims  that  the 
particles  of  electrified  earth  are  set  into  molecular 
vibration,  thus  loosening  the  earth.  Faraday,  in 
his  researches  many  years  ago,  declared  that  plants 
requiring  much  nitrogen  for  their  development 
would  be  benefited  by  being  grown  in  electrified 
earth. 

Let  us  consider  how  uncombined  nitrogen  in  the 
soil,  carried  there  by  the  water,  may  be  given  to 
the  roots  of  plants  without  first  being  formed  into 
compounds.  We  will  state  the  case  of  one  of  the 
legumenous  plants,  which  plants  find  nitrogen  so 
very  necessary  to  their  existence.  It  is  well  known 
that  many  of  the  legumes  can  sustain  themselves  in 
soils  too  poor  in  nitrogenous  compounds  to  support 
other  plants.  They  seem  to  do  so  by  feeding 


directly  upon  the  nitrogen  brought  to  them  from 
the  air  by  rain-water,  and  this  by  the  aid  of  certain 
bacteria  at  their  roots.  On  the  roots  of  the  pea, 
for  instance,  we  often  find  numerous  tubercles; 
these  used  to  be  thought  to  be  evidence  of  disease, 
and  the  microscope  seemed  to  corroborate  this  by 
showing  them  to  be  filled  with  micro-organisms 
(bacterium  radicicolus).  However,  it  was  soon  as- 
certained that  instead  of  causing  harm  to  the  pea 
plants  these  colonies  of  bacteria  contributed  very 
largely  to  their  welfare.  They  actually  fed  the 
plants  with  nitrogen  through  their  roots.  If  peas 
are  planted  in  a  soil  which  has  been  washed  and 
calcined  to  deprive  it  of  its  nitrogenous  com- 
pounds, they  will  soon  become  sickly  and  die;  but 
if  some  water  is  made  muddy  with  a  little  soil  in 
which  healthy  peas  are  growing,  and  soaked  to 
their  roots,  they  become  healthy  and  thereafter 
flourish.  The  water  carries  to  their  roots  some  of 
the  bacteria  from  the  ground  in  which  the  healthy 
peas  are  growing.  These  micro-organisms  attach 
themselves  to  the  roots,  and  while  living,  in  a 
measure,  upon  the  nutrition  in  them,  more  than 
pay  for  what  they  eat  by  giving  to  the  plants 
through  their  roots  quantities  of  nitrogen,  taken  in 
some  mysterious  manner  from  the  air  brought  to 
the  soil  by  the  water.  Let  us  wonder  if  electricity 
may  not  help  in  this  matter  by  stimulating  the 
activity  of  these  bacteria,  for  it  is  said  to  favor 
very  much  the  growth  of  peas  when  applied  to  the 
soil.  Before  directing  our  attention  to  the  question 
of  the  action  of  electricity  upon  bacteria,  let  us 


notice  the  offices  of  some  other  bacteria  in  the 
soil. 

Organic  matter  containing  nitrogen,  such  as 
manure,  is  converted  by  fermentation  into  ammo- 
niacal  compounds.  By  one  kind  of  micro-organ- 
isms in  the  soil  these  compounds  are  oxidized  into 
nitrites,  and  by  another  kind  the  nitrites  are  raised 
to  nitrates,1  ready  for  absorption  by  the  roots  of 
plants.  Both  organisms  are  found  in  all  good  soils; 
in  the  future  farmers  may  sow  them  in  bad  soils, 
not  forgetting  to  sow  with  them  some  phosphates, 
sulphates,  etc.,  as  foods  for  the  micro-organisms 
themselves. 

Here,  as  very  frequently  elsewhere,  man  is  de- 
pendent upon  bacteria  for  some  of  the  good  things 
in  life.  In  these  days  of  antisepsis,  when  the  tend- 
ency is  to  sterilize  everything,  especially  our  foods, 
it  may  soften  our  animosity  towards  the  disease- 
producing  micro-organisms  to  reflect  that  there  are 
many  of  their  kin  which  are  friendly  to  us  :  the 
delicate  flavors  given  to  butter  and  to  cheese  are  the 
results  of  their  action ;  even  the  process  of  digestion 
is  probaby  dependent  in  a  manner  upon  them. 

But  what  has  electricity  to  do  with  the  action 

1  When  we  consider  how  scarce  and  costly  nitrates  are,  we 
can  rightly  value  the  work  of  these  two  kinds  of  bacteria. 
They  make  the  nitre  beds  of  Chili  and  India  by  converting 
the  organic  matter  deposited  there  by  fish-feeding  sea-birds 
into  nitrates  of  soda  and  potash.  The  absence  of  rain  in  these 
localities  causes  the  nitrates  to  effloresce  upon  the  dry  soil, 
from  which  they  are  easily  collected  ;  in  other  places  they  are 
washed  away  on  account  of  their  great  solubility  in  water. 


33 


of  bacteria  in  feeding  atmospheric  nitrogen  to 
the  roots  of  plants  ?  and  what  with  their  action  in 
decomposing  ammoniacal  salts  finally  into  sol- 
uble nitrates,  ready  for  absorption  by  the  plants  ? 
Does  electricity  stimulate  the  functions  of  the 
bacteria  ? 

A  current  of  electricity  passed  through  water 
containing  certain  freely  floating  organisms  causes 
them  to  take  notice  of  the  fact  and  accommodate 
themselves  to  it.  Dr.  Waller  has  shown  that  a 
vessel  of  water  with  parameciae  plentifully  inhabit- 
ing it  is  curiously  affected  if  a  current  of  electricity 
is  passed  through  it.  The  minute  organisms  at 
once  form  in  line  and  rush  towards  the  negative 
electrode,  and  if  the  current  is  reversed  hasten  the 
other  way.  One  might  think  that  the  current 
drives  the  minute  organisms  with  it,  as  it  does 
some  chemicals  in  cataphoresis;  but,  strange  to  say, 
other  micro-organisms  swim,  as  it  were,  against  the 
current.  D'Arsonville  insists  that  electricity  of 
high  potential  has  a  definite  effect  upon  micro- 
organisms, and  his  remarkable  experiment  with  the 
bacillus  pyocyaneus,  which  caused  it  to  change  the 
color  of  its  secretive  pigment,  is  much  in  evidence. 
And  then  we  know  of  the  stimulating  influence  of 
thunderstorms  upon  fermentative  germs;  for  in- 
stance, upon  the  lactic  ferment,  causing  it  to  turn 
milk  sour  more  quickly. 

We  think  we  have  sufficient  knowledge  of  the 
effects  of  electricity  upon  the  cells  of  complex  man 
to  warrant  us  in  believing  that  it  does  favor  their 
nutrition;  why  not  infer  that  it  has  a  like  action 


34 


upon  the  cells  '  of  plants,  and,  also,  upon  the  func- 
tions of  the  bacteria  concerned  in  feeding  nitrogen 
to  plants  ? 

In  these  early  days  of  the  X-rays  of  Roentgen, 
let  us  wonder  what  effect  they  may  have,  not  only 
on  plants  above  the  soil,  but  especially  on  the  roots 
and  bacteria  in  the  soil,  which  soil  the  rays  can 
penetrate  to  a  considerable  depth. 

So  far  experiments  have  not  been  conclusive. 
Professor  Atkinson  states  that  while  plantTtissues 
absorb  the  Roentgen  rays  quite  freely,  there  is  no 
marked  influence  on  the  growing  parts,  and,  also, 
that  bacteria  are  negatively  affected.  Other  ex- 
perimenters report  that  exposure  of  the  bacillus 
prodigiosus  to  the  radiations  of  an  X-ray  focus-tube 
induces  very  marked  increase  of  growth  and  pecu- 
liar changes  in  the  pigment-forming  powers  of  this 
particular  micro-organism.  Similar  changes  were 
noted  in  some  of  the  lower  forms  of  vegetable  life, 
notably  in  the  protococcus. 

1  Stanoievitch,  a  Russian  scientist,  has  made  the  interesting 
observation  that  the  markings  produced  by  growth  on  a  sec- 
tion of  wood  or  vegetable,  are  very  similar  to  those  produced 
by  sifting  iron  filings  upon  a  plate  of  glass  and  holding  the 
poles  of  a  magnet  directly  under  it.  And  he  argues  that  there 
is  an  analogy  between  the  actions  of  plants  which  arrange 
their  cells  in  such  definite  positions,  and  the  play  of  the  magnet 
which  makes  the  familiar  "  lines  of  force." 


CHAPTER  VI 

SOME    SUGGESTIONS    AND    A    GLIMPSE    OF    AN 
ELECTRIC  FARM  OF  THE  FUTURE 

THE  simplest  and  cheapest  method  of  getting 
electricity  into  the  soil  and  to  the  roots  of 
plants  is  by  the  use  of  some  form  of  the  geomag- 
netifer.  In  using  this  device  we  must  be  careful  to 
arrange  it  so  that  the  atmospheric  electricity  will 
come  down  the  wire  on  the  pole  to  the  system  of 
wires  in  the  soil,  and  not  down  the  pole  itself  to  the 
earth  immediately  surrounding  it.  The  pole  may 
be  made  a  non-conductor  by  being  coated  with 
resin,  or  it  may  be  set  into  a  non-conducting  sub- 
stance. As  to  the  height  of  the  pole,  it  should 
reach  far  above  the  surrounding  trees  or  other  high 
objects,  or,  better,  the  pole  should  be  situated  on 
elevated  plots  of  ground.  We  must  learn  more 
about  the  relation  of  the  area  of  soil  beneficially 
affected  to  the  height  of  the  pole.  We  also  must  try 
to  find  out  more  about  the  nature  of  the  soils  most 
responsive  to  the  application  of  electricity,  as  well 
as  the  varieties  of  plants  most  susceptible  to  its 
influence. 

After  the  installation  of  a  geomagnetifer,   the 
main  cost  will  come  from  the  replacing  of  the  dis- 
35 


tributing  wires  in  the  ground,  which  wires  are  sub- 
ject to  corrosion. 

The  use  of  earth-batteries  seems  to  be  a  more 
reliable  method  of  furnishing  electricity  to  the  soil. 
For  their  successful  use  the  soil  should  be  kept 
fairly  moist,  especially  around  the  metallic  plates. 
The  use  of  weak  acids  in  the  vicinity  of  the  zinc 
plates  may  be  of  advantage — if  of  any  disadvant- 
age, it  would  be  that  they  consumed  the  zinc  too 
rapidly,  thus  increasing  the  expense,  possibly  with- 
out a  corresponding  increase  in  the  good  done  to 
the  crop.  The  plates  should  be  of  ample  size,  and 
their  distance  apart  should  be  regulated  to  suit  the 
crops  planted  between  them;  the  greater  the  dis- 
tance the  larger  the  resistance  to  the  current  and 
the  less  its  strength.  When  a  current  of  but  little 
strength  is  wanted  by  soils  or  plants  sensitive  to  it, 
rows  of  zinc  plates  should  be  connected  with  rows 
of  copper  plates  at  considerable  distances  from 
each  other.  If  stronger  currents  are  needed,  the 
distance  should  be  diminished.  A  sensitive  gal- 
vanometer inserted  in  the  wire  above  the  ground 
will  be  of  assistance  in  finding  out  the  strength  of 
current  best  suited  to  the  circumstances  of  soil  and 
crop;  it  will  surely  tell  us  whether  or  not  a  current 
is  flowing  through  the  soil:  this  will  point  out  the 
cause  of  occasional  failures  in  this  form  of  experi- 
mentation. The  action  of  the  battery  will  slowly 
destroy  the  zinc,  while  the  copper  will  last  almost 
indefinitely;  so  it  will  be  best  to  raise  the  zinc 
plates  from  the  soil  when  no  crop  is  being  grown, 
or,  at  least,  to  disconnect  the  wires  which  join  the 


37 


zinc  and  copper  plates.  Iron  can  be  used  instead 
of  the  more  expensive  zinc,  but  the  current  fur- 
nished by  the  iron  and  copper  battery  is  almost  too 
weak  to  be  of  any  service. 

The  advantages  of  this  method  over  that  in  which 
the  geomagnetifer  is  used  are  the  absence  of  under- 
ground wires  which  corrode  and  have  to  be  replaced 
in  time,  and  the  power  to  furnish  a  more  constant 
supply  of  current.  The  one  disadvantage  is  the 
interference  the  plates  and  wires  offer  to  cultivation. 

The  earth-battery  would  seem  to  be  the  more  use- 
ful in  raising  berries  and  vegetables  in  greenhouses 
or  small  plots,  and  the  geomagnetifer  in  growing 
potatoes  or  cereals  in  fields. 

When  electricity  can  be  generated  cheaply  enough 
by  dynamos  or  other  means,  its  application  to  soils 
in  which  crops  are  growing  can  be  regulated  to  suit 
every  condition ;  each  soil  and  crop  will  get  its  dose 
as  exactly  and  as  effectively  as  the  physician  pre- 
scribes tonics  and  nutrients — possibly  more  so. 

In  using  the  arc-light  the  main  things  to  be  con- 
sidered are  the  proximity  of  the  plants  to  it,  the 
nature  and  color  of  the  shade  interposed  between 
it  and  the  plants,  the  length  of  time  the  plants  are 
exposed  to  its  rays,  and  the  hours  of  the  day  or 
night  most  suitable  for  its  use. 

If  the  arc-light  is  too  near  the  plant,  though  not 
near  enough  to  affect  it  by  its  heat,  it  may,  never- 
theless, scorch  its  leaves  and  cause  serious  damage. 
The  ultra-violet  rays  are  said  to  be  responsible  for 
this,  as  they,  according  to  Professor  Rowlee,  "  pro- 
duce great  activity  in  the  protoplasmic  contents  of 


the  cells,  particularly  of  the  palisade  tissue,  or 
hasten  the  physiological  process.  This  activity 
calls  at  once  for  large  supplies  of  water,  and  it  is 
drawn  first  from  the  overlying  epidermal  cells; 
these  cells  being  emptied  of  their  contents,  collapse 
like  an  empty  grain  bag.  In  other  words,  the  vital 
activity  is  hastened  so  much  by  the  naked  light 
that  the  plant  cannot  supply  materials  quickly 
enough,  and  it  is  forced  to  death." 

Plain  glass  will  strain  out  these  dangerous  ultra- 
violet rays  sufficiently  to  prevent  this  damage,  or 
it  may  be  avoided  by  removing  the  lamp  to  a  suffi- 
cient distance  from  the  plants. 

Experiments  are  being  conducted  which  may  de- 
termine for  us  just  what  colors  of  lamp-shades  are 
the  most  desirable  for  use  in  cultivating  the  various 
plants  which  are  benefited  by  the  arc-light.  Ex- 
periments have  been  made  with  the  spectrum  of  the 
sun  to  find  out  which  of  its  rays  are  efficacious  in 
causing  the  formation  of  woody  fibre,  which  in  the 
formation  of  starch,  which  in  the  formation  of 
chlorophyll,  etc.,  but  the  results  have  not  been 
conclusive  on  account  of  the  difficulty  of  maintain- 
ing the  spectrum  steadily  at  the  same  place,  and  on 
account  of  the  short  periods  of  time  it  could  be 
depended  upon  for  action.  But  with  the  arc-light 
the  spectrum  can  be  furnished  continuously,  and 
its  different  colors  kept  upon  a  number  of  similar 
plants  as  long  as  desired.  Thus  we  may  learn 
which  colors  are  best  suited  to  the  varying  needs 
of  plants  at  the  different  stages  of  their  growth. 
Here  again  we  may  meet  the  question  of  dosage, 


39 


and  may  prescribe  certain  rays  for  early  life,  others 
for  adult,  or  combinations  for  specially  developing 
the  starchy,  saccharine,  woody,  or  other  substances 
in  the  plants;  or  we  may  hasten  or  retard  the 
ripening  of  crops  to  suit  the  varying  conditions  of 
the  market. 

While  it  is  stated  by  careful  investigators  that 
plants  do  not  seem  to  need  rest  at  night,  yet  further 
study  of  them  under  the  influence  of  the  electric 
light  may  put  us  in  possession  of  facts  which  will 
enable  us  to  give  them  their  light-stimulus  at  the 
proper  times  and  for  the  exact  length  of  time,  in 
addition  to  giving  it  of  the  right  strength  and  color. 
The  fact  that  diastase,  which  transforms  starch  into 
sugar,  acts  best  in  the  absence  of  light,  seems  to 
argue  that  the  leaves  of  plants,  which  make  starch 
in  the  presence  of  light,  should  have  periods  of 
darkness  to  permit  this  transformation  to  go  on 
satisfactorily;  otherwise  the  leaves  may  become 
choked  with  starch,  and  the  plant,  although  it  has 
an  abundance  of  starchy  food,  suffer  because  it 
cannot  utilize  it  in  the  presence  of  continuous  light. 
Some  observers  warn  us  not  to  give  the  light  too 
freely  at  noonday,  or  when  the  heat  is  greatest, 
and  others  suggest  that  alternations  in  the  dosage 
are  of  value;  we  have  before  made  mention  of  the 
effects  of  heliotropism. 

When  one  thinks  of  the  combinations  which  can 
be  made  of  the  methods  of  furnishing  electricity  to 
the  soil  and  to  plants  with  the  methods  of  furnishing 
electric  light  to  the  leaves  of  plants,  he  feels  how 
little  indeed  has  been  accomplished,  and  sees  ahead 


work  for  years  of  experimentation.  And  then  there 
is  the  possibility  that  plants,  in  future  generations, 
may  become  accustomed  to  being  partly  fed  by  the 
electric  light,  and  partly  by  currents  in  the  soil,  and 
may  adapt  themselves  to  the  new  conditions  to  the 
increased  profit  of  the  horticulturist. 

While  the  vast  majority  of  the  experimenters  have 
reported  results  highly  favorable  to  electro-horticul- 
ture, yet,  as  we  have  before  pointed  out,  there  have 
been  a  few  who  did  not  obtain  the  good  results  so 
enthusiastically  heralded  by  others;  it  may  be  that 
in  some  localities  of  the  earth's  surface  certain  con- 
ditions obtain  which  render  such  places  more  favor- 
able ones  for  such  experimentation  than  others. 

Experiments  with  earth-batteries  may  fail  on  ac- 
count of  the  connecting  wires  above  ground  being 
twisted  around  the  projecting  plates  instead  of  being 
soldered  to  them.  In  dealing  with  such  feeble 
currents,  no  more  resistance  should  be  opposed  to 
them  than  is  absolutely  necessary.  And  then  the 
soil  may  be  unsuitable  for  sufficient  chemical  action 
upon  the  zinc  plate;  possibly  too  scanty  in  proper 
mineral  matter,  or  too.  dry,  and  hence  unable  to 
generate  a  useful  current.  It  is  always  well  to  test 
the  strength  of  the  battery,  and  still  more  import- 
ant to  see  if  there  is  any  current  flowing,  by  means 
of  a  sensitive  galvanometer  inserted  in  the  wire 
connecting  the  plates. 

The  practical  farmer  will  want  to  know  if  electric 
farming  will  increase  his  profits  before  he  thinks 
seriously  of  adopting  it.  He  may  agree  that  it  will 
be  more  scientific,  perhaps  more  interesting,  and 


likely  less  laborious,  but  will  it  pay  ?  It  is  too 
early  to  give  satisfactory  figures  concerning  the 
results  of  the  application  of  electricity  to  the  grow- 
ing of  plants  and  vegetables,  as  experiments  have 
not  yet  been  made  on  a  sufficiently  large  scale  to 
furnish  reliable  statistics;  but  the  smaller  experi- 
menters seem  much  encouraged,  and  some  of  them 
are  now  engaging  in  electro-horticulture  much  more 
extensively. 

As  regards  the  use  of  electricity  as  a  motive 
power  on  the  farm,  the  experiments  have  reached 
the  stage  where  figures  can  be  safely  given  in  its 
favor.  Recently  Julius  Muth,  United  States  Con- 
sul in  Mecklenburg,  Germany,  gives  some  interest- 
ing figures  concerning  a  farm  near  that  place  run 
entirely  by  electricity.  The  dynamo  furnishing 
the  current  is  driven  by  a  turbine  whose  power  is 
furnished  by  a  small  brook,  and  the  electricity  is 
stored  up  in  an  accumulator  of  sixty-six  large  cells. 
The  yearly  expenses  of  running  the  farm  under  the 
old  system  were  $1713.60,  while  under  the  elec- 
tric system  they  were  reduced  to  $1492. 

Although  it  was  not  our  intention  to  consider  the 
application  of  electricity  to  the  machinery  of  the 
farm  in  this  little  book,  yet  we  give  room  to  a  state- 
ment of  Otto  Doederlein,  United  States  Consul  at 
Leipsic,  in  his  report  to  the  Department  of  State, 
in  1895,  concerning  "  The  Electric  Plow  in  Ger- 
many." He  says,  after  giving  elaborate  figures: 
"  It  is  thus  evident  that  the  working  expenses  of 
the  electric  plow  for  extensive  husbandry  amount 
to  less  than  half  of  those  incurred  in  working  the  - 


steam  plow.  This  contrast  is  readily  explained, 
for  (i)  the  capital  sunk  in  plant  is  only  one  third 
of  that  required  for  the  steam  plow;  (2)  the  ex- 
penses connected  with  the  generating  of  power  are 
materially  lower  than  is  the  case  with  the  steam 
plow,  in  which  a  very  considerable  surplus  power 
has  to  be  raised  in  order  to  work  the  pulleys  and 
brakes  and  to  overcome  the  stiffness  of  the  rope; 
(3)  the  expensive  transport  of  water  is  herein  en- 
tirely done  away  with."  His  reference  is  to  the 
Electric  Tilting  Plow,  made  by  Messrs.  Zimmer- 
mann  &  Co.  He  also  adds,  "  I  have  been  in- 
formed by  the  director  of  the  Haale  factory  that 
electricity  will  shortly  also  be  used  in  digging  out 
potatoes  and  sugar-beets." 

When  electricity  can  be  furnished  more  cheaply 
than  at  present,  what  may  not  a  combination  of 
electric  farm  machinery,  electric  culture  of  the 
soil,  and  electric  stimulation  of  plant-life  mean  to 
the  farm  ? 

The  following  extract  from  a  lecture  delivered 
by  the  writer  some  years  ago  at  a  Farmers'  En- 
campment is  appended,  thinking  a  little  electric 
speculation  may  interest  some  of  the  readers: 

"  The  farmer  we  see  in  the  future  has  no  need  of 
horses.  Occasionally  he  may  be  found  with  a  pair 
of  spirited  animals,  with  which  to  vary  the  monotony 
of  riding  in  his  speedy  electric  carriage.  His  work 
is  done  by  electricity  furnished  by  some  near-by 
waterfall,  or  by  a  combination  of  wind-engine  and 
storage-battery,  or  by  some  company  which  manu- 
factures electricity  cheaply  and  sells  it  to  communi- 


43 


ties  of  farmers.  His  produce  is  sent  to  the  nearest 
shipping  station  by  means  of  electric  railways  on 
the  highways,  which  run  alike  winter  and  summer, 
and  which,  when  once  put  down,  require  no  filling 
up  of  chuck-holes  and  no  plowing  up  of  the  sides 
of  the  roadway  and  throwing  of  the  dirt  into  the 
centre.  Scattered  over  his  farm  are  numerous  poles 
carrying  insulated  wires.  Let  us  go  out  to  his  wheat- 
field  and  see  what  he  is  doing.  It  is  the  time  of 
harvest.  We  see  an  odd-looking  reaper  and  binder ; 
from  it,  as  it  moves  rapidly  along,  there  pays  out 
some  insulated  wire  which  connects  the  reaper  with 
the  wire  coming  to  the  field  from  the  highway, 
through  which  wire  it  receives  the  energy  which 
runs  it.  Thus  the  farmer  with  great  rapidity  cuts, 
binds,  and  shocks  his  wheat;  he  does  the  work 
alone  and  complains  not  of  weariness,  but  only  of 
a  sense  of  loneliness.  As  he  stops  his  machine  for 
a  few  moments  to  shift  the  wire,  he  tells  us  that  this 
method  is  getting  too  slow  for  him,  on  account  of 
the  reeling  and  unreeling  of  the  wire,  and  that  he 
is  thinking  of  buying  the  latest  patent  which  carries 
its  own  electric  supply  in  storage-batteries,  only  he 
fears  that  the  recent  experiments  looking  toward 
making  electricity  directly  from  coal  are  so  near  to 
success  that  this  new  machine,  in  turn,  will  soon 
become  old-fashioned. 

"  After  he  is  done  a  wagon  comes  out,  moved  by 
the  same  mysterious  force,  and  gathering  the 
sheaves,  takes  them  to  the  barn.  In  course  of  time 
an  electric  thresher,  which  cannot  set  the  barn  on 
fire  from  red-hot  cinders,  separates  and  cleans  the 
wheat;  and  soon  the  electric  railway  transports  it 
to  the  market. 

"  His  electric  plow  is  quite  an  improvement  on 
the  one  which  not  long  ago  turned  up  the  first  fur- 
row in  American  soil  at  the  Kansas  sorghum  experi- 
ment station,  and  his  electric  harrow  pulverizes  the 
ground  to  an  evenness  that  is  marvellous.  .  ... 


44 


Among  the  many  lesser  inventions  of  which  he 
makes  use,  we  notice  a  simple  device  to  protect 
some  favorite  trees  from  the  invasion  of  caterpillars. 
The  trunks  of  the  trees  have  two  narrow  bands  of 
copper  around  them  at  short  distances  apart. 
These  bands  are  connected  by  wires  with  the  poles 
of  a  battery  capable  of  delivering  a  very  strong 
current.  When  a  caterpillar  crawls  up  one  of  these 
trees  and  crosses  the  metallic  bands,  it  is  in  the 
same  unpleasant  situation  as  the  murderer  in  the 
4  electrocution  chair  '  at  Sing  Sing.  Its  body 
makes  the  connection  between  the  terminals  of  the 
battery,  and  it  goes  no  farther.  If  the  current  is 
powerful  enough  a  diminutive  arc-light  is  the  result, 
and  a  cinder  all  that  is  left  of  the  caterpillar.  In- 
deed he  is  tempted  to  use  this  method,  with  some 
modifications,  in  dealing  with  the  chicken  thief, 
the  burglar,  and  even  the  ubiquitous  tramp. 

"  See  the  huge  earth-batteries  and  tall  geomag- 
netifers  he  uses  in  forcing  his  crops ;  how  he  spreads 
electricity,  as  it  were,  through  the  soil,  and  keeps 
large  arc-lamps  burning  at  night  to  still  further 
assist  in  hastening  the  growth  of  his  farm  products. 
With  the  heat  generated  by  these  lamps,  or  by 
means  of  special  resistance  coils,  generating  it  more 
abundantly,  he  is  able  to  prevent  frosts  doing 
damage  to  his  earlier  and  more  tender  fruits  and 
vegetables. 

"Had  the  late  rain-producing  experiments  been 
successful,  we  might  even  picture  this  fortunate 
farmer  calling  down  the  refreshing  showers  when- 
ever he  thought  his  crops  needed  them.  And  if  he 
believed,  with  Jean  Paul  Richter,  that  the  thunder- 
storm-bath was  as  refreshing  and  invigorating  to 
the  human  system  as  to  the  trees  and  flowers,  he 
would  invoke  the  storm  with  his  bombs  when  he 
thought  his  grain  needed  rain,  regardless  of  the  fact 
that  there  was  a  picnic  in  the  wood  or  a  farmers' 
encampment  in  the  grove — indeed,  he  would  take 


45 


out  his  wife  and  children  and  form  a  '  rain-party,' 
and  be  invigorated  and  strengthened  by  the 
'wonder-working  arm  of  the  thunder-cloud.' 

"  Our  electric  farmer,  besides  using  electricity 
to  assist  in  maturing  his  crops,  has  learned  how  to 
apply  it  to  the  destruction  of  one  of  his  greatest 
enemies — weeds.  With  a  dynamo  furnishing  a  cur- 
rent stepping  up  from  2000  to  24,000  volts,  as 
needed,  he  sends  the  current  through  the  weeds  by 
means  Of  brushes  of  fine  wire  passing  among  their 
tops  as  his  generator  moves  over  the  field, — the 
other  pole  of  the  circuit  being  connected  with  the 
ground  through  the  wheels  of  the  machine  carrying 
the  dynamo.  This  strong  current  breaks  up  the 
cellular  tissues  of  the  weeds  and  thus  destroys  them 
—just  as,  on  a  larger  scale,  a  stroke  of  lightning 
destroys  a  tree.  ...  In  picturing  the  electric 
farm  one  has  a  very  large  range  of  probabilities  to 
draw  upon,  but  there  is  ever  the  danger  of  his  let- 
ting his  fancy  run  riot  and  of  making  the  electric 
farm  of  the  future  appear  a  very  Utopia;  there  will 
ever  be  plenty  of  hard  work  for  the  farmer,  even  on 
the  model  electric  farm,  but  he  will  have  more 
pleasure  and  satisfaction  in  his  work,  and,  it  is  to 
be  hoped,  more  profit  from  it." 


««•— " 


50Tn-7,'l6 


YB   12383 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


